Why Radio…why now?

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As of now, the “great threat to Radio” is at the beginning of a very slow and painful decline to its ultimate place as another niche audio internet playlist, much like Sirius/XM has become. Of course we are talking about Pandora, whose stock just suffered another bone crushing loss of value (-10%) as investors now know its business model is genetically flawed. We are talking about Pandora, whose ominous audience erosion has been continuous for the past 5 months; both in time spent listening and log in occasions. “Active users” fell again from 76.2 million to 73.4 million as their “earnings guidance” to investors plunged for the second time in three months. Stock Scouter, a service of MSN, gives the stock a rating of only 3 out of 10.

A humbling 3 out of 10 rating for the “next great threat to Radio.” All that hype, all that attention, and all it comes down to is an embarrassing rating for its stock and its business model.

Pandora’s ultimate descent will not be pretty for investors or the “media experts,” but descending it surely is.

Like this:

The great comedian was a master of deception and this famous line helped Groucho ignore the facts of any plot situation and plow ahead with his manic comedic schemes, which always resulted in more hilarious mayhem and a laughing and very entertained movie going public.

Let’s fast forward to 2013 as we sometimes face Groucho-like attitudes towards our business and the great medium of Radio, even today.

We have all encountered Groucho in the press and on blogs, which in turn is read by our clients, which in turn is read by us, and so the cycle goes. Before we can say “urban myth”, it becomes “fact” in our collective minds.

If we took the time to answer every blog post, media critic, and self-proclaimed “media expert”, with their wildly opinionated positions of Radio’s decline (facts are never cited) or that audience is eroding, (facts are never cited) or a personal agenda they are promoting (facts are never cited) we would spend our day just defending our industry and nothing else would happen.

We prefer a different approach to all the Grouchos out there that claim Radio is a legacy media and not the powerhouse it once was. Please allow us to indeed, confuse our critics with the facts. (Miller-Kaplan: January-May 2013) Continue reading →

Like this:

While many people have used this phrase for all sorts of issues and causes, the simple and compelling thought behind these few words is powerful.

If we, who work in this business, cannot effectively communicate the persuasive and effective value of Radio as advertising medium, then who will? Moreover, if we don’t take the time now to convince advertisers and their agencies that Radio, indeed, can work for them, then when will we?

The phrase screams urgency… demanding both action and a timeline to start, all within two simple questions; if not us, then who? if not now, then when? Continue reading →